Wednesday, June 22, 2016

I finally remembered it's a Wednesday before the Wednesday is over! Summer vacation/busy day problems.

The Widow
Jean Taylor loves her husband Glen, even if he is a little controlling and a little by the book. Although Jean loves Glen, she also doesn't seem too sad at the beginning of the book when he's run over by a bus right in front of her. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that Glen was accused of having involvement in the case of a missing pre-schooler, named Bella. It seems, also, that Glen was found in possession of child pornography, despite his best attempts to convince Jean that it was a computer virus.
After Glen's death, Jean consents to give an interview--in the sense that she's too overwhelmed and polite to tell a reporter no. As the reporter fishes further in Jean and Glen's relationship and Bella's disappearance, it becomes evident that Jean may know more than she initially let on. Although this book was compared to The Girl on the Train, I didn't really see that connection--instead it was more of an in-depth look as to how far someone will go to maintain roles of normalcy and what happens when the breaking point appears.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here
It took me awhile to get into this book. Where Mikey lives, odd things happen. Zombies and vampires and, recently, mysterious blue lights in the woods that appear before indie kids die. Mikey's mom is running for a government position, causing him to live on edge and again become overwhelmed by his obsessive compulsive disorder. Meanwhile, his sister is praying to not have a resurgence of her eating disorder that plagued her during her mom's last campaign. Mikey is also in love with Henna, who seems content to friend zone him. There are secondary characters who play a part in this novel, as well, but I'll be honest, I struggled to find any attachment to them. I felt like this book tried to be a fantasy novel and a coming of age novel all at once and it seemed like it mostly missed the mark for me.

Girls on Fire: A Novel
So I enjoyed this novel for pure entertainment value. I didn't think it was the best book, but it had me engaged. My quibble with it was that I felt like the author was trying too hard for an unreliable narrator, but it felt like they were all unreliable and not in an engaging way. Following the suicide of a high school basketball star, quiet Hannah Dexter is befriended by the Kurt Cobain, grunge loving Lacey. Lacey claims that Hannah is a boring name and instead dubs her Dex. Although initially happy to see "Dex" making friends, Dex's parents eventually begin to question the type of power Lacey holds over her. After Lacey is sent to a Christian reform camp, Dex is befriended by Nikki, the popular queen bee of their school. Nikki has a past with Lacey that Dex is unaware of and as the story reaches its climax, it all comes to light. Few of the characters have any redeeming quality, particularly Dex who is content to become what others want her to be--regardless of the cost.

By Lisa Williamson The Art of Being Normal [Hardcover]
David is pretty sure his parents think he's gay, but David isn't gay. Rather, David feels that he is a girl trapped in a boy's body. With every inch taller he grows, David feels he's losing his grip on the only thing he's ever wanted. When David is being bullied in the cafeteria (a regular occurrence), new kid Leo comes to his defense. The two form an unlikely friendship and David finds the courage to tell Leo why he feels different, with unexpected results. Although David is the main character, Leo's story and motivations are equally as interesting. I love that a book like this exists and I hope it will reach its intended audience.

The Fireman: A Novel
With homage to Ray Bradbury, the author creates a novel that settles into a normal world that quickly becomes post-apocalyptic with the spread of a disease called Dragonscale or simply Scale. The infected are marked by a beautiful but eerie black pattern on their body. The eventual cause of death comes when they catch on fire and burn to death. Harper is a nurse who answers the call to treat infected patients, remaining clean herself until she too catches the Scale. In the midst of this, she discovers she is pregnant and vows to stay alive for the baby, but her husband Jakob becomes quickly unhinged and sees that the only answer is to kill Harper and possibly himself. Rescued by a mysterious man known only as The Fireman, Harper learns that their may be a way to live with the Dragonscale after all, but it won't be easy.
Loved this book so much. The storyline stuck with me for days afterward and I loved the resounding message found in many post-apocalyptic novels--as always, the real threat is not the disease or the monsters but the other humans.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things
This book had me so on edge that I ended up staying up late just to finish it in one reading. Jake and his girlfriend, never named, are going to meet Jake's parents. The entire time his girlfriend is thinking of ending things, but she isn't quite sure why. After an odd meeting with his parents, she is even more certain that she should end things. It's hard to discuss this book without giving anything away, but there are minute details that become more important as the book starts to reveal the true twist. I don't think this book will be for everyone, but if you enjoy psychological thrillers that leave you second guessing until the very end, I would recommend this one.

The Memory of Light
This was a sweet, albeit somewhat unbelievable book. Vicky Cruz wakes up at Lakeview hospital, disappointed to be alive after her nanny discovered that she tried to end her life. Through Dr. Desai and group therapy, Vicki meets and becomes intertwined with Mona, E.M. and Gabriel. I felt like the exploration of the loss and depression in the lives of these teens was realistic; however, the constant violation of HIPAA and disregard to patient safety was unrealistic. I wish the author would've stuck close to fact on those parts, but I still felt the characters and attitude toward depression and other mental illnesses was well done.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

My library book requests keep pouring in and I want to cry because so many books. Not enough time.

Zero K
I always want to read Don DeLillo novels. Then I remember that I find his writing style hard to get into, but at the point that I remember, I'm too far in to quit. Ross and his wife, Artis, are millionaires. Ross' son Jeff is summoned to say goodbye to Artis, who is about to be cryogenically frozen until the time that there are enough medical advancements to keep her whole and healthy. Much of this book takes place in the compound where Artis is to "die," a strange and cold place where Jeff meets people who both comfort and frighten. It was an odd book, but raises an interesting question... should we be allowed to die when we want, in the hopes of living for a better future?

Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Oh, this book. It had me in tears so many times. Mary North, a wealthy beautiful girl, leaves school and signs up to be part of the war relief. It is London 1939 and the job they give her is to teach children who have been sent from the city to the country. After she becomes too attached to a black child, she is sent back to London, where she applies to teach again. It is here that she meets and falls in love with Tom, eventually becoming acquainted with Tom's best friend, Alistair, who spends his time fighting Italians on the island of Malta. While the book started out slow, it picked up steam during the London blitz and had me hooked on all the stories from that point forward. It isn't happy, not by a longshot, but there is some happiness in the midst of the war.

Asking For It
In the wake of so many stories of young girls getting raped and then blamed for it, this is poignant and timely. Emma is a beautiful Irish girl who has it all. Until a night at a party when she mixes drugs and alcohol an, for reasons outside of her memory, ends up a crumpled sunburnt heap on her front porch the next day. As time goes on, the pictures of what happened that night are leaked to social media and although the pictures make it clear that Emma was not a willing participant, her peers and the media are all too happy to chronicle the many ways in which she was asking for it. This was definitely not an easy read. It raises some interesting societal views without really answering what we can do about them, but I am glad I read this book.

There Will Be Lies
After being hit by a car, Shelby's life changes entirely. She and her mom are on the run, for reasons Shelby doesn't quite understand. Shely is suspicious and doesn't know who to trust, but in the midst of this, she finds herself going to another realm in her sleep. One where she becomes friends with Mark, who is also a coyote, and where she is tasked with killing the Chrone to save the Child. Shelby is unsure who she can trust in either world as the truth about who she is and who she was is slowly revealed. I loved how the author so seemlessly wove fantasy and reality together.

The Ghosts of Heaven
This book was not my favorite, though I did like some of it. The author weaves together four stories, which he says you can read the conventional way or in the order that feels best to you. I chose the conventional way. The first story is of a young girl, drawing spirals in a cave and hoping to be chosen for the hunt. The next is Anna, a girl dealing with the loss of her mother in the midst of being accused of witchcraft. The third is a doctor in an asylum, missing his wife and trying to peice together the mystery of the spiral design, while the fourth is a man on a spacecraft hurtling toward an uncertain world. I really didn't connect to this, not in the way I've connected to other overlapping stories. It was just a book with four stories that could maybe fit together but weren't even that strong to stand alone.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

LaRose: A Novel
I was pretty excited about this book because I loved The Round House by the same author, but I struggled to get into this one. Landreaux Iron is out deer hunting when he aims at a buck and instead shoots and kills his neighbor's son, Dusty. In exchange for Dusty, Landreaux and his wife decide to follow the old customs and give their son, La Rose, to the neighbors in exchange for the life Landreaux took. While this storyline itself was solid and I felt could have carried the book, the author shot off in so many different directions that I struggled. You have Romeo, the town drunk, who grew up with Landreaux and his son, Hollis. You have an addicted mother and her daughter, trying to survive on the streets, as well as many other tertiary characters. I struggled to follow along and care, though I was interested in the storylines of the two main families.

Lies We Tell Ourselves (Harlequin Teen)
Sarah Dunbar is integrating an all-white school in the 50s. Following the integration of Little Rock Central High and other schools, she has no idea how difficult her journey will be. Compounding this journey is Sarah's own confusion about her sexuality, especially as she falls in love with the daughter of a very vocal anti-integration activist. I really enjoyed this book, especially having taught about school integration this year. I thought the sexuality struggle added an extra layer to Sarah's voice and made it more interesting.

The Square Root of Summer
I would call this book good, but not great. Following the death of her beloved grandfather, Gottie discovers wormholes and begins reliving days she has already lived. While this concept overall interested me, I didn't feel it was that well executed and ended up confused half the time as to what was really happening vs. what had already happened. Gottie's voice was strong and her struggle over her grandfather's passing, as well as her struggle reuniting with an old childhood friend and crush were believable and carried the novel, but the plot overall didn't engage me.

Unbecoming
Katie struggles to fit in, but she does have one goood friend: Esme. Until Esme asks Katie what her biggest fantasy is and Katie responds by kissing her, causing Esme and her other friends to ostracize Katie. In the midst of this, a grandmother Katie never knew she had shows up and moves in with Katie, her bitter single mother, and her 14 year old mildly mentally disabled brother, Charlie. The book bounces back and forth between Katie, her mom Caroline and her grandmother, Mary. As the book progresses, you understand what motivates all the characters and why they are the way they are. I really enjoyed this book and felt the author did a fabulous job developing all of her characters.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

I only read one book this week. Partly because I'm so busy with baseball and school responsibilities that all crop up in May, but also because I'm still binge watching American Horror Story (2/3 of the way through Coven!).

Brother
A friend suggested this book and alluded to how dark it was. Although I am no stranger to reading the dark or the macabre, this book was very twisted. Michael Morrow lives in a cabin in the Appalachian woods with his family. So far removed from the rest of the world, no one hears the screams of the girls that echo through the woods, nor does anyone go looking when these girls turn up missing. Michael's parents, Claudia and Wade, have twisted tastes, as does Michael's brother Ray. Michael has no choice but to participate, but he doesn't enjoy it as the rest of the family does. As the book goes on, you learn more about Michael and why he doesn't quite fit in with the family. The ending was a bit abrupt and I wish the author would've told us more about Claudia and Wade, but overall, this one hooked me. Fair warning, though it is not supernatural, it does reveal to us that the real and worst monsters are human.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

I have 12 library holds right now, which of course means that while nothing is coming in at the moment, they will all arrive at once. I'm sure you all know that struggle!

Maestra
There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed, for the drama and seediness of Judith's world. There were also parts that I questioned, where the main character's switch from Judith an office worker to Lauren a paid entertainer of men to, well, a twisted antihero out for revenge seemed a little too fluid for the major changes. Overall, though, this was a pretty darkly entertaining novel. It is a trilogy, though I honestly felt it could have been wrapped up in one book... but maybe the author has other plans to make the character shifts more realistic. Ultimately, I enjoyed it.

Somewhere Out There: A Novel
At the age of ten, Natalie found out she was adopted but was given no information about her birth parents. When her daughter has to complete a family tree, Natalie is again driven to find out about her biological mother--even if it means upsetting her adopted mother. In the process, Natalie discovers her sister, Brooke, a sister she never knew she had. Unlike Natalie, Brooke knew she had a sister and also unlike Natalie, Brooke was never adopted and grew up in the system. The two girls forge a sometimes strained, sometimes strong relationship and together set out to find their mother. This book is told from three perspectives: Natalie, Brooke and Jennifer, their mom. Although this dragged on a little bit for me, the author did an excellent job of fleshing out all three characters--their motivations, their joys and sorrows. Definitely a good summer or beach read.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Almost didn't make it, but I desperately wanted to finish a book before posting.

Tell Me Three Things
There's something about cutesy, quirky YA romance books that get me every dang time. They're so predictable, and yet, so enjoyable. Jessie is new to her rigorous prep school in LA. Jessie is new to LA, even, having moved from Chicago to California following her dad's remarriage after the death of her mom. As she realizes that she'll never fit in there, she receives an email from an anonymous boy calling himself Somebody/Nobody. SN offers to be her anonymous guardian angel and tell her all the ropes at school, but he won't reveal who he is. Although she eventually starts to fit in, Jessie still relies on SN and desperately wants to know who he is. Although it was fairly obvious to me who SN was, it was still an enjoyable read.

The Great American Whatever
After the loss of Quinn's sister, he gives up on pretty much everything he loves--movie making, script writing, spending time with his friends. When summer rolls around, Quinn's best friend Geoff decides that enough is enough and drags Quinn out of bed, out of the house and back to reality--though a new reality for both. The details of Annabeth's death are put forth slowly by Quinn, intermixed with his own torment over how to tell his mom he's gay and his feelings for the cute new college guy who he meets through Geoff.
I really liked this book. The characters were all likable and the storylines were real, if a bit stretched at times.

Dodgers: A Novel
East, his brother, and two other gang members are sent by East's uncle to Wisconsin to kill a judge who is going to testify in a trial. East has never left the projects of LA, let alone ventured into the Midwest, so it's an adjustment, as well as dealing with his temperamental younger brother. This was a pretty amazing book, to be honest. It was a coming-of-age story in a way, but with a slightly different twist. Most of the storyline involves the journey to kill the judge, then it takes on a life of its own. I definitely found myself rooting for East who, in spite of the world he grew up in, seemed desperately to want to rise above.

Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
Have girls? Work with young girls? Know a girl? Read this book. Read it. The world teen girls are navigating now is a different world than the one in which most adult women grew up. Sexting, hook ups, nude selfies, blow jobs being the new good night kiss. It's scary, but also so important that we teach girls to advocate and ask for respect, to only do something if they want to do something--not because they're expected to--and that sex should be a two-way street. Also, of course, to teach our boys that being too drunk to really understand consent means it isn't consent and that girls aren't in existence to be pleasure givers. I had an incident at work recently where two boys came to speak to me because a female friend had her butt grabbed in the cafeteria. She urged them not to say anything, saying it wasn't a big deal, but they felt it was a big deal and they wanted to report it. I was--and still am--so proud of them, but also so very troubled by the easy acceptance of girls to things like this and that passivity is really covered in depth in this book.

The Two-Family House: A Novel
1947, Brooklyn. Two babies are born at home in the midst of a blizzard, born by the wives of two brothers who lives in the same two-family house. It is an unusual night, made even more unusual by circumstances that aren't immediately revealed. As the years progress, Teddy and Natalie--the two babies--grow to be the best of friends, while their mothers' relationship becomes strained and angry at times. This book is told from varying perspectives, from Helen and Rose, to their husbands and their children, as well. The characters, though there are many, are all well fleshed out and the story captivating. I had to put this one down at work today after silent reading time, and it was so not easy!

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

I only read one book this week--too busy outside hiking and enjoying the sunshine!

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: A Novel
Sara de Vos, as a woman painter in the 1600s, was ahead of her time. The first female painter appointed to the Guild of St. Luke, Sara pushes the envelope by painting landscapes. Thought to be weaker, women were mostly encouraged to paint indoors as exposure to the elements would surely be fateful. Once married and a mother, debt and the plague take both away from Sara.
Sara's only lasting painting echoes her defiance to the society at the time--"At the Edge of the Wood" featuring a young girl on a hill viewing a village. This painting hangs over the head of the bed of Marty DeGroot on his wife. Marty is a wealthy Manhattan lawyer in the 1950s, both powerful and intelligent. After a dinner party, he becomes aware that "At the Edge of the Wood" has been replaced with an almost identical forgery. He sets out to find out who deceived him, eventually crossing paths with Ellie who was behind the forgery.
The story twists between Sara, Marty, and Ellie, eventually interweaving their lives in ways that go beyond the portrait. I absolutely loved this book. Although the plot was complex and it was something I read slowly, the author told a beautiful story.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Seconds Away (Book Two): A Mickey Bolitar Novel
Book 2 in the Mickey Bolitar series. A good continuation of the first book. I really think this would be a great middle level book for boys. Excitement, adventure, some violence and a male protagonist. I enjoyed it.Found (A Mickey Bolitar Novel)
And the end of the trilogy. Still would definitely recommend this one for upper elementary and middle school boys.

Girl in the Blue Coat
YA Holocaust fiction is always a good read because I feel like it often skims the surface of the Holocaust without being too overwhelming for younger readers, but at the same time, it encourages them to look more into history. It is Amsterdam 1943. Hanneke spends her days running black market errands for her boss. Unlike many characters in Holocaust fiction, Hanneke is helping rich gentiles who are "put out" by all the war rationing. While delivering to one of her clients, Mrs. Jannsen, she asks Hanneke to help her find something outside of her usual--a person. Specifically, a Jewish girl named Mirjam who up and vanished out of the hiding space behind Mrs. Jannsen's pantry. Initially reluctant, Hanneke agrees and finds herself thrust into the heart of the resistance movement.
This was an easy, engaging read. It gave a good view of Holocaust history, how so few people realized the extent of German atrocities.

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy
I was torn between reading this book and not because I felt it would be difficult. It was. It definitely was, but I finished it in one day because I couldn't tear myself away from Sue's story of how the boy she loved grew up to commit one of the most notorious school shootings. I remember Columbine because I was a junior in high school at the time. I remember thinking, this could never happen here... but it could. It could happen anywhere.
I think it's important to try to put yourself in the shoes of the women who raise children who grow up to do evil acts. It's easy to blame the mothers. I know I blamed Nancy Lanza after Newtown, but she wasn't left alive to absorb the blame as Sue Klebold did and has. Some of the critiques for this book blame Sue Klebold for making too many excuses for her son, for blaming Eric, but what I saw was a mom confused and stunned by her son's actions even all these years later and to some extent, excuses might help her process. Who knows? I certainly don't and certainly hope I never have to know. I think it's a lot easier, too, to find red flags now in a post-Columbine world than it was at this time. I had never done a lockdown drill in my life until after Columbine, and it's important to remember that this, unfortunately, started a new world of schools not being as safe as one could imagine.

All Stories Are Love Stories: A Novel
I found this book a little slow to start, but once it picked up, I really enjoyed it. This book circulates around three main characters: Max, Vashti and Gene. Max and Vashti have a history and on February 14th, she goes to see him on his birthday. After they're together, a major earthquake hits San Francisco and Max and Vashti are trapped beneath the rubble of an auditorium, along with a group of others. Gene is a geologist who knows more about earthquakes than most, yet he is still left wandering the streets of the city trying to get home to his partner. As the story unfolds, the three become connected in ways they never could have imagined. What I loved about this book is that the earthquakes almost became a character themselves, setting so much into motion. I was definitely drawn in by this book once I got beyond the exposition, and I absolutely loved how the author brought it all together.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

As Close to Us as Breathing: A Novel
This book circles around the loss of Davy, with his sister Molly narrating the story. The reader knows that something happens to Davy at the family's beach house, but it's not immediately apparent what happened. In the midst of this, we are given the backstory between Davy's mother, Ada, and her two sisters, Vivie and Bec, and how their lives and loves and losses have intertwined and continued to intertwine as time moves forward. There were times when I struggled to follow along with the many different stories, but overall, I enjoyed this book and the way the story circled around Davy but was also about so much more.

Lost & Found: A Novel
Millie's mom abandons her in a department store, following the loss of Millie's dad. For awhile, Millie hides out beneath the clothes rack, then stays after the lights go out. Through a series of events, Millie ends up beneath the wings of two 80 year olds who set out to reunite Millie with her mom. Along the way, the two create quite an adventure for Millie. I loved this book. It made me smile and it made me cry. It was an unlikely story but still very enjoyable.

The Nest
The Plumb family is beyond dysfunctional. Melody, Beatrice, and Jack are faced with the loss of their trust fund, following their brother Leo's drunken accident in which he severely injures a 19 year old waitress. Melody has been living beyond her means for awhile, counting on the trust fund (the nest) to send her twin daughters to college. Jack is struggling financially, but doesn't want to let his husband know. Beatrice is a writer who just can't seem to finish her overdue novel. The perspective switches between family members as the story progresses. I loved this one. I definitely did not want to cut short my time with the Plumb family.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
This is a book that if I were in the intended age level, I really would have enjoyed it. As someone older than the intended age level, I still really liked the story, but I struggled to imagine leaving my child to finish out senior year of high school alone after losing her father in a tragic accident--an accident for which she blames herself. Regardless, this is the plot line, so following it, Amy's mom asks her to drive her car from California to Connecticutt, where Amy's mom now lives. However, Amy won't drive, so Amy's mom arranges for Roger--son of a former friend of the family--to drive back across the country with Amy. The two decide to, as the title suggests, take a detour along the way. I did enjoy this book for the story itself, and I can definitely see teen girls loving it.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Sigh. I've been so tired and so busy and so everything that reading hasn't been a huge part of my life lately and that's sad.

Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel
I found this on a list of good YA thrillers. I'm always looking for YA books that might appeal to boys and chose this one because of the male character. Mickey Bolitar is not having the best time lately. He witnesses his dad die in a car crash, his mom ends up in rehab, and he doesn't really like the uncle with whom he lives. He does, however, meet a great girl named Ashley, but shortly into the school year, Ashley disappears. Not only does Ashley disappear, but it's almost as if she never existed at all. Following the trail of her disappearance, Mickey encounters a shady strip club, an urban legend named Bat Lady, and some clues that his dad's death is more than what it seems. This is part of a trilogy, and I look forward to reading the rest because the mystery definitely hooked me.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

I've been pretty stagnant with books lately. I have a whole stack of non-fiction sitting on my nightstand and zero desire to read anything that isn't an escape from reality.

Innocents and Others: A Novel
Meadow and Carrie grow up together. The two are connected by their love of film-making and forays into documentaries. On the outside is a woman named Jelly, who cold calls men who are connected to celebrities and forges a relationship with them over the phone. The book goes back and forth between Meadow, Carrie, and Jelly. At times, it was disjointed and I had to remind myself of who was where, but I was overall interested in each of the women and how they eventually connected.

See Jane Run
This book came up on a list of ten best psychological thrillers. I love psychological thrillers and this was one of the few that I hadn't read. It did not disappoint. Jane snaps to suddenly on a Boston street, with no knowledge of who she is or what she's doing. She's wearing a trench coat that she quickly discovers is holding stacks of $100 bills and when she removes the trench coat, she realizes that her dress is soaked in blood--blood that isn't hers. After ending up at the hospital, she's diagnosed with hysterical amnesia thought to be brought on by trauma. Someone eventually recognizes her as the wife of renowned pediatric surgeon Dr. Michael Whittaker and Jane is brought home to begin reconstructing. Or so she thinks. What unfolds is a nightmare in which she is unsure what is reality and what is hysteria.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Passenger
The story opens with Tanya Dubois, a woman whose husband falls down the stairs and dies. Although she had nothing to do with his death, she flees knowing that the police will only bring more questions--as she is not really Tanya Dubois. Nor is she Amelia or Debra or any of the other personas she adopts. As the story unfolds, the reader learns she is fleeing from her past, though it's unclear as to who should be given blame for her past. This one kept me hooked! Great premise and the author did an excellent job of slowly revealing the pieces of the puzzle.

The Forgetting Time: A Novel
Janie is a single mom, after a wreckless night on the beach during vacation. She loves her son, Noah, with all her heart, but he is a very difficult four year old. He suffers nightmares, has an irrational fear of the water, and constantly asks when his other mom will come to get him. Jerome is a psychiatrist who specializes in past life research, believed to be a fraud by some, he strongly insists that some children are born with strong memories of the past life they led and reuniting children with that past life can help ease troubled minds. Janie and Jerome come together to search for Noah's past life, to return him to the mom he claims he had when he was a boy named Tommy. This was really a beautifully written book. I felt the struggles of both Janie and Jerome, but especially Janie as a mom desperately trying to find help for her boy.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Perfect Days: A Novel
This was twisted. I went into the ending thinking, "Oh no, the author wouldn't..." and the author did. Teo is an isolated adult. He lives with his parapalegic mom and is medical school, where his only friend is his group's assigned cadaver. One day, his mom drags him to a party where he meets and becomes infatuated with Clarice. Teo obsessively begins calling and following her, until one night, one thing leads to another and he ends up kidnapping her. You get the sense that Teo didn't exactly intend to do this, but now that he's done it, he has no choice but to keep on with the charade and the hope that Clarice will return his affection. This was GOOD. Discomforting but so good.

Violent Ends
17 different stories tell parts of the story of Kirby Matheson, who on one fateful day walked into his school and shot 11 people, then killed himself. These stories, however, don't really tell you why Kirby did it. Not definitively. Written by 17 different YA authors, these stories tell the aftermath of Kirby's actions. They tell of Kirby's childhood. Of the days before the shooting. They tell the stories of the victims. They weave a beautiful tapestry of perspectives that won't easily be forgotten.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

I wanted to finish the book I was reading and took advantage of the snow day to do so before posting this.

Burning Midnight
One day, brightly colored spheres showed up on earth. Much like the Gold Rush, at first they were just there for the taking, but after awhile, they became sparse. At first, no one knew what they did, until it was discovered that burning (placing them at your temples) a colored pair would have certain outcomes depending on the color. Some make you smarter. More attractive. Faster. Give you the ability to function on little sleep. Like most things, the rarer the sphere, the more amazing the outcome, the more that sphere is worth.
Sully is a teen who makes his living dealing spheres at a flea market. He's notorious for finding the cherry red spheres that triggered a second wave of spheres. As the second wave is running out, Sully and his friend Hunter intensify a search for more rare spheres.
This book was entertaining and unique. I loved the idea of something like this just happening, as well as the way different people reacted. It was definitely not without a sci-fi twist to it, too.

The Sky Is Everywhere
This is by the same author of I'll Give You the Sun and was so very good. Bailey's sister dies suddenly while rehearsing for Romeo & Juliet. In the wake of her death, Bailey is left reeling and unsure of how to move forward. Lennie attaches herself first to her sister's boyfriend, then to Joe, the new boy at her school. She struggles to connect with her grandma and uncle in the way that she did before Bailey's death and she feels that no one quite understands her pain.
I really enjoyed this book. It was realistic and messy.

All the Birds in the Sky
This book was okay. I felt like it was trying to be dystopian, fantasy, coming of age and sci-fi all at once and that didn't really work for me. However, it has good reviews on Amazon, so it could work for you! It begins with Patricia and Laurence, children who are both misunderstood. Patricia wishes to talk to animals and can't figure out how to handle her abusive older sister. Laurence is scientific minded and resents his parents trying to make him like nature. It then moves onto their teenage years, where Patricia ends up at a school for children with magical powers and Laurence ends up at boot camp, following an assassin turned guidance counselor plotting to get rid of him. It finishes with Patricia and Laurence as adults where maybe the world is possibly ending. It just didn't mesh for me. I was hooked at first, but it started to drag after awhile.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

This extended weekend was beneficial to my reading time! I could use more of those.

Front Lines
I love this whole theme of re-writing history from the "what if" point of view. In this case, what if women were allowed to fight on the front lines during WWII? Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman all sign up to fight, all for different reasons. Rio signs up with her friend Jenou, Jenou hoping to escape a horrible home life situation, Rio to honor her sister who was killed at Pearl Harbor. Frangie signs up to get money for her family, in a heavily segregated world where black girls don't have many other options, while Rainy signs up because she's Jewish and the disturbing lack of contact from her Jewish family in Europe gives her the drive to kill as many Germans as she can.
Each story is well told and leads up to the moment where all intertwine. I definitely enjoyed this one!

After Tupac and D Foster
Neeka and her best friend (our unnamed narrator) are growing up at a time where Tupac is very much alive and very much an icon. When the girls meet D Foster, the three create a bond that transcends their issues--the narrator and her single mom trying to make ends meet, Neeka's brother in prison and her crowded home, and D's foster situation in which she hasn't seen her mom for years. This was a short book, but thematically heavy. Prison among African-American males. Homosexuality. Abandonment. Racial and societal pressures. It was a powerful read for any young reader.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
I held off on reading this book because I feel like I always struggle with books translated from Swedish. However, I fell in love with this book and the characters pretty quickly. Sara travels all the way from Sweden to the tiny town of Broken Wheel, Iowa, to meet up with her penpal Amy. When she arrives, she discovers that Amy has died of a not entirely unexpected illness. As Sara stays in Broken Wheel and begins to know--and love--the people in the town, she decides to open a bookstore, although it is arguably the last thing Broken Wheel could use. This book was written in a tone similar to Fried Green Tomatoes or other books about small town nuances where you fall head over heels for the characters. I couldn't put this one down, so much wanting to know what would happen to Sara and Broken Wheel.

My Name Is Lucy Barton: A Novel
Lucy Barton is hospitalized following what should have been a routine appendectomy. Her mother, who she hasn't seen in years, comes to stay with her in the hospital and keeps her entertained from stories of those they knew in their small Illinois town. In the midst of this, Lucy weaves together glimpses from her past, the poverty and abuse that surrounded her, as well as flashes forward to the future she will have beyond her hospitalization. There were points where I wasn't sure if Lucy was an unreliable narrator or if her mother was unreliable, but it was a great narrative.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Slow reading this week because I've been too tired to stay awake very long at night.

The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
Andrew Brawley lost all of his family in one night, in a horrible accident for which he blames himself. Since then, he's lived in the hospital where his family members breathed their last. He works in the cafeteria during the day and sleeps in an empty wing at night. His truest friend is a comic he created, about a man named Patient F. His enemy is a social worker who he refers to as Death because she always shows up to when people are dying. Drew is drawn into the life of Rusty, a patient who is brought in with severe burns on most of his body, a victim of a hate crime. I loved this book. There were parts of it that seemed almost surreal, but in the end, the author brought it all full circle.

Orphan X (Evan Smoak)
Evan Smoak was a boy taken out of the East Baltimore projects to become a government weapon. He breaks free from the program and uses the skills he learned to help people who are desperately in need of this help. As good as he is at covering his tracks, he isn't perfect and he soon realizes that someone is after him.
This was a good thriller crime novel. It was an easy read that kept me engaged.